Edmund Burke was one of the foremost philosophers of the eighteenth century and
wrote widely on aesthetics, politics and society. In this landmark work, he prop
ounds his theory that the sublime and the beautiful should be regarded as distin
ct and wholly separate states - the first, an experience inspired by fear and aw
e, the second an expression of pleasure and serenity. Eloquent and profound, "A
Philosophical Enquiry" is an involving account of our sensory, imaginative and j
udgmental processes and their relation to artistic appreciation.
Burke's work
was hugely influential on his contemporaries and also admired by later writers
such as Matthew Arnold and William Wordsworth. This volume also contains several
of his early political works on subjects including natural society, government
and the American colonies, which illustrate his liberal, humane views.
